Practical Life Exercises in Montessori and Development of Social Skills
“We can imagine an adult’s society organized as constructive society on the same lines as children’s that is on lines with this natural society of cohesion.
Attachment to other people is the first stage which brings all men to work for a common ideal.
It would be good for men if society could be constructed like this but we cannot command this. It must come from nature.
If nature is the basis the construction will be superior, but without this basis there can only be an artificial construction which breaks down easily."
(The Child, Society and the World, p 24, Chap III)
Maria Montessori termed a child as a “Spiritual embryo”, which is in the embryonic stage of the future fully transformed adult. A society is a group of adults, while a group of children can be termed as an embryonic stage of the future society. A group of children is nothing but a school or a place where children spend time together. Hence, Montessori termed social development as possibly the most important element in her schools. Her emphasis on children being allowed the freedom to work alone and to develop concentration did not mean that she underestimated the importance of social development. Instead what she saw was that it was precisely because the children were allowed to work in such freedom that they then displayed their innate social cohesion. She saw that true discipline and harmony was something that came from within and was not something that could be enforced.
"The children then are orderly and have a harmonious discipline. A discipline in which each has different interests. It is different from the discipline of a soldier, with his forced obedience, when we all have to do the same thing at the moment. This is a social discipline and it brings people into harmony with each other." (The Child, Society and the World, p 24, Chap III)
Dr. Montessori designed her environment as a miniature of the world outside. She provided social
Attachment to other people is the first stage which brings all men to work for a common ideal.
It would be good for men if society could be constructed like this but we cannot command this. It must come from nature.
If nature is the basis the construction will be superior, but without this basis there can only be an artificial construction which breaks down easily."
(The Child, Society and the World, p 24, Chap III)
Maria Montessori termed a child as a “Spiritual embryo”, which is in the embryonic stage of the future fully transformed adult. A society is a group of adults, while a group of children can be termed as an embryonic stage of the future society. A group of children is nothing but a school or a place where children spend time together. Hence, Montessori termed social development as possibly the most important element in her schools. Her emphasis on children being allowed the freedom to work alone and to develop concentration did not mean that she underestimated the importance of social development. Instead what she saw was that it was precisely because the children were allowed to work in such freedom that they then displayed their innate social cohesion. She saw that true discipline and harmony was something that came from within and was not something that could be enforced.
"The children then are orderly and have a harmonious discipline. A discipline in which each has different interests. It is different from the discipline of a soldier, with his forced obedience, when we all have to do the same thing at the moment. This is a social discipline and it brings people into harmony with each other." (The Child, Society and the World, p 24, Chap III)
Dr. Montessori designed her environment as a miniature of the world outside. She provided social
Bibliography: |5. |Getmann David |Basic Montessori: learning activities for |St. Martin 's Press, 1987 | | | |under-five | |